


Happiness returned to me, through a grave emergency.

by Gay_as_fuck



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Worth Issues, i love putting my faves through pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 13:57:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10110455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gay_as_fuck/pseuds/Gay_as_fuck
Summary: Pretending that your perfect isn't the best way to cover up scars. Virion gets some much needed understanding and care from his friends.





	

As Virion just barely escaped another blast of magic from the enemy mage he hit the ground.He clutched his hand to his side where he had been stabbed by a spear wielder earlier in the battle. He hadn’t had time to see Lissa about it, considering she was on the other side of the field giving her brother as much support as possible. 

The mage was charging another spell and he knew that he only had a few seconds before the fighter would be in range again. He wasn’t sure if he could survive another hit. 

He tried to stand up, to remind himself that he’d had worse. There had been times in Valm, when the fight was just starting, that he’d been tortured and stabbed. He tried to remind himself that it had been worse. That didn’t help him however, as the mage finished charging up their spell and came rushing towards Virion.

Virion shut his eyes and hoped that it was one of those spells that looked worse than it felt. The unearthly green flames he had seen springing from the fighter’s tome hadn’t looked that way. 

He expected to feel fire and then maybe, if his luck failed him, nothing at all. Something, or rather someone, grabbed him by the back of his shirt. His eyes shot open and to his surprise he saw Sully. He had somehow lost track of her during the fight and he had assumed the worst.

He always assumed the worst.

She was bloodied but in far better shape than he was. She had somehow hoisted him up onto the back of her horse and they were rushing away from the mage as quickly as the stead could carry them.

“Let’s leave that one to Chrom, his sword is better suited for that green mage than my spear.” Sully told Virion before giving a light kick to her horse’s side. They speed up and raced to counter a Wyvern Rider who was rushing at Lissa.

“Can you still fight?” Sully asked, not turning around to face Virion. Virion clenched his jaw and reached around his back where he found his bow and quiver still remained. He fumbled around for a moment before he was ready to attack.

He leveled his bow at the Wyvern Rider and let one of his last arrows fly. He was normally strong enough to withstand the force of the action, however considering his injured state the blow sent him crashing down against Sully’s back.

He saw that his arrow had flown true and had hit something under the beast’s armour plates. He grasped at his side and found it was still bleeding. He could feel his grip on Sully start to loosen as his head swam with darkness. 

Something black and sinister edged into his vision and continued to swirl. He tried to remind himself that he could endure this. He had survived his time in Valm. He wanted to say something, do something, to make the pain in his side and the black in his vision stop.

All he could do was hear Sully yell something he couldn’t quite make out- he made a mental note of how odd it was he couldn’t tell considering he was right behind her- and feel the sudden sensation of falling.

He thanked naga that his vision went black before he hit the ground. 

\--

He didn’t dream while he was out, his brain and body were much to spent for dreaming, but he did remember. He remembered frivolous and inconsequential things. For a moment in the blackness his mind felt itself back in his manor. There was a roaring fire and a chess board laid out in front of him.

He couldn’t recall where the pieces had been or who he had been playing with but it was clear to him that the white pieces were losing. He felt as if there was something more important there but he couldn’t act on the thought, as it passed through as quickly as it had come. 

His brain drifted to happy places, such as archery practice from atop a horse on a bright sunny day. The feel of being wrapped up in soft furs and reading a good book. Watching the sun rise over the fields. 

Snapshots of the past slowly made way to throbbing pain. Each step he took towards being awake caused only more trouble for his mind.

He remembered a good joke. When he awoke to the hospital tent and the pain in his side he would not remember the punch line. He would lay under the rough cloth and wish for a moment that he was still asleep. His body would be sore and a deep sense of failure would worm its way into his gut.

Before he had to face that however, he remembered a good joke told to him by a close friend (whose face he would not recall upon waking) and the pure joy of being loved. 

He was confused for a moment when he woke up- where was he. Hadn’t he been with a friend in his duchy? Then he remembered. Valm was conquered, his duchy was gone, and now he had been taken down during battle while the rest of his teammates had to make up for his mistakes. It seemed as if people always had to make up and cover for him.

He clenched his fists and attempted to resist the urge to slam them into his thighs. Mentally he berated himself, he was much weaker than his teammates and this was his punishment for failing them. 

He only hoped that they had been able to win the battle. If they had then maybe he wouldn’t be that much of a failure after all.

His self deprecating thoughts were cut short when someone walked into the tent. Virion strained his neck in an attempt to catch a glimpse of whoever had just entered.

Lissa had parted the curtain entrance of the tent and was making her way through. Right behind her was Chrom, whose arms were full of books and supplies. 

Virion snapped his eyes shut and tried to make it seem as if he was asleep. He didn’t want to face anyone, to see Chrom’s disappointed look when he told Virion that he had to be strong next time. 

Virion imagined the conversation would eventually come. At some point he knew that Chrom would come to him with soft words and tell him that they needed to talk. Virion would get kicked out of the army and take his leave with dignity no matter what he wanted to say.

Virion kept his eyes closed in hopes to avoid that conversation for as long as possible. He heard a soft thump from the other side of the tent. He could only assume Chrom had placed down what he had been carrying.

“Ugh Chrom! You have to be careful with that stuff” Lissa chastised her brother. Chrom didn’t respond verbally but Virion knew that Chrom had probably rolled his eyes.

There was the sound of papers being folded and glass clinking together for a moment. The two royals didn’t speak to each other. That didn’t mean they weren’t happy, it was simpler and easier at times to just work in silence with someone who you understand.

Virion allowed himself to start drifting off to sleep. His whole body was sore and the throbbing pain in his side hadn’t gotten any better. The beds in the medic tents were much more comfortable than those in the barracks.

Just before sleep finally overtook Virion something forced him awake again. Chrom and Lissa were talking and he knew it was about him even before they said his name.

“Chrom?” Lissa asked her brother in a worried tone. 

“Yeah? Do you need me to do something for you?” Chrom replied, always willing to help.

“It’s not that. I just want to make sure you’re okay, I know you’re worried about Virion. He’ll be okay, that fight just took a lot out of him.” Lissa comforted Chrom. Virion had seen her do it enough times to know that she had placed her hand on his shoulder which he was leaning into. 

“A lot out of him! You saw him he was barely alive when you got to him!” Chrom raised his voice in a frantic call. 

“I saw him and I thought that he was dead! I don’t understand why he didn’t just run! Why didn’t he just tell Sully to get him somewhere safe? He wasn’t strong enough to keep fighting like that!”

“He’s not weak you know. He’s rather strong actually, and can take more hits than me” Lissa scolded Chrom, probably crossing her arms while she did so. 

“No-” Chrom’s voice went down to a mutter when he replied. Virion had to strain his ears to hear it completely. “I know he’s strong, but no one is strong enough to keep fighting with a wound that big in their side. Based on the color of Sully’s horse’s fur he never once stopped bleeding until you got there.”

Something hit a mattress on the other side of the room. Chrom spoke more, his words muffled by something and his voice distorted in emotion.

“I won’t have anyone else die under my command. I couldn’t save Emmeryn, so I won’t fail anyone else”. 

Virion was shocked at Chrom’s words. The exalt wasn’t angry at him for having failed during the mission. Virion should be the one feeling guilty, not Chrom who hadn’t done anything wrong. Chrom’s words did help to comfort Virion, a regular man wouldn’t have been able to survive the injuries he had received during the fight. 

Virion decided it was a good time to make himself known and get Chrom’s mind off guilt and despair. He moaned softly and blinked his eyes open as if he was just waking up. He heard a gasp and then quick footsteps. Lissa was at his side in almost an instant with Chrom standing behind her.

“Virion. I’m glad you’re awake!” lissa greeted him and quickly lifted the blanket off of him. Virion gave her a shaky smile and made a joke in attempts of showing her and Chrom that they didn’t need to worry. 

“I know I am a beauty to behold” Virion chimed and lifted his left hand for a dramatic gesture. Lissa gave a chuckle but softly slapped Virion’s hand back to his side. 

“Don’t move, I need to give you a full check up first. Just be careful alright, the last thing we need is you splitting open your side again.”  
Lissa started to run her hands along Virion’s bandages, looking for any signs of open wounds. Virion looked down at his chest which was a patchwork of old and new scars. The middle of his torso was wrapped up in crisp white bandages. 

“You took a pretty hard fall, be glad that you don’t have bandages around your head.” Chrom commented in what sounded like it was supposed to be a joke. Chrom flinched and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“That- um, that came out wrong. Sorry.” Chrom looked away from Virion’s face and his eyes landed on his shepard’s chest.

“I’m sorry you got hurt. It was my fault I shouldn’t have left you alone without any back up.” Chrom admitted guiltily. 

“It will be a story to tell the bards!” Virion tried to show that he had no hard feelings towards his friend and didn’t blame him for anything.

“No- I won’t let you avoid another problem Virion. This isn’t an epic battle! You almost died this time. Please- just take care of yourself next time.” Chrom put his hand down on Virion’s shoulder.

Virion didn’t meet his leader’s eyes. He swallowed and tried to answer, to say that he would take care of himself. He desperately wanted to tell Chrom that next time he would tell Sully to get him out of the action.

Lissa bit her lip as she checked the bandages on Virion’s legs. His ankle had been badly injured in the fall but that wasn’t the only reason Lissa was upset. Virion’s silence towards Chrom’s request was telling.

“Virion, i’m not sure what’s going on inside your head but you have to listen to Chrom.” Lissa spoke softly but with force behind her voice. “I know things have been hard for you, if your scars say anything. I don’t know what happened before you joined us, and honestly I don’t need to know. Just please, tell us why you won’t take care of yourself.” 

Lissa moved back up to Virion’s head after she finished checking over his legs. Virion sighed and reached his hand up to rub his neck. 

“Lissa - I just don’t want to be useless.” Virion muttered under his breath and shifted his head fully away from the two siblings. 

“Virion, you took down a wyvern on your own today. You are nowhere near useless or weak. The only time you will be useless is if you’re dead. Stay alive and you are of use to the army. That is an order.” Chrom’s voice was stern and his gaze felt hot on the back of Virion’s head.  
“Yes sir. You’ll get to bask in my glory for a while longer.” Chrom gave a soft chuckle at Virion’s reply.

“I’ll go check in with Libra and see if he has cooked up an potions that might help your wounds heal better. That and I need to refill your pain suppressant.” Lissa noted and gave Virion a quick pat before rushing out the door.

Chrom quickly made his way to the other side of the tent where he grabbed a chair. He promptly dragged the chair over to Virion’s bedside. 

“Alright, I know Lissa is in charge of making sure you feel better, physically at least, but I’ll see what I can do. And forgive me if any of this sounds, uh, rude or condescending or anything. I swear I’m not pitying you.” Chrom started as he sat down in his chair.

“Thank you” Virion replied and shifted himself so he was facing Chrom.

“I can only imagine what is going on in your head right now, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Personally I have trouble explaining what’s wrong. But- if you don’t mind me asking, is there anything I could do that might help you feel better?”

Virion looked away from Chrom and flushed, embarrassed of what he was about to ask. 

“Could you please just, listen to my escapades and perhaps pretend to be impressed?” Chrom smiled at Virion’s request.

“Of course! Honestly I’ve always wondered about what you did before you came here! And if the stories are anything like what you’ve done while serving alongside me than I’m sure I’ll be impressed.” 

Virion chuckled to himself and thanked Naga for having sent him such a wonderful and understanding commander.

“Now, our first story starts in Valm on a summer’s day. I don’t know if you’ve been to Valm, a beautiful country almost every time of year. In summer however, it is the most beautiful…”


End file.
